We want now to consider what we think we have learned from this study
and reflect on some possible policy implications. Others will have
different interpretations and see different implications. If this book
simply stimulates serious discussion about the future of liberal
Protestantism, then the support and effort it embodies will be
recompensed. The members of the Congregation will have opened their
lives to public scrutiny in an extension of their ministry of
reconciliation. If, on the other hand, this book serves only as a rally
focus for those in agreement with us and an annoyance for those in
disagreement, little will have been gained. We do not fear nor hide from
the conflict this book may generate. We can see from this study, and in
a broader sense from the turmoil of our society during the past decade,
that conflict can be absolutely devastating to everyone involved or it
can be an opportunity, a door to reconciliation, a challenge to move
beyond the present to a future yet unknown but most certainly a little
more human.
